A testimony

When I first began working as a patient advocate at a clinic serving primarily Spanish-speaking families, I met a mother who sought help making a dental appointment. She was in severe pain and had already lost several teeth but she'd avoided making an appointment earlier due to prohibitively high out-of-pocket costs. As an undocumented immigrant, she didn't qualify for any state-sponsored health insurance. I wondered how many other families I'd met at the clinic had put their medical needs aside to afford necessities.

I continued my advocacy as an AmeriCorps fellow working in Washington, D.C., where undocumented residents qualify for free health insurance. The difference felt like night and day. My clients in D.C. could afford yearly checkups and preventive care, while my Maryland clients could not. Witnessing these disparities pushed me to testify last year in favor of a Maryland bill, HB 588, which would allocate funding for all Maryland residents, regardless of immigration status, to enroll in health insurance via the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange. But the bill didn't pass. Though I was disheartened, I used my disappointment as motivation to return to Johns Hopkins for medical school, where I'd push the bill forward again.

A revised version of the bill without funding, co-sponsored by state senator and Johns Hopkins physician Clarence Lam, reemerged last January. I rallied medical and public health students from both Hopkins and the University of Maryland to write their own testimonies and sign a letter to the Senate Finance Committee on the importance of the bill. Thanks to the dedication of my community, the campaign grew. Of the 119 people who signed the letter, 86 were Hopkins medical students. Thirty medical students provided written testimonies, some of them detailing personal experiences with lack of access to health care. The day of the public hearing, my hands trembled as I read my testimony. I knew I had done everything I could. Regardless of the bill's outcome, we, as a community, had come together to speak up for change.

Once the news broke that the bill would pass, I felt a wave of cautious joy. This bill is just one of many steps that must be taken to address the health care disparities faced by undocumented residents in Maryland: our patients, co-workers, friends, and loved ones. I am deeply grateful to everyone who stood in solidarity and lifted up their voices through testifying. As an aspiring physician, I now know that I am never alone in my pursuit for justice.